Distant Traces of Beauty
by Gazing on the Arabesque
Summary: Iris never really could stand up to her sister. Not even when her own feelings and the life of the man she loved were put on the line. Phoenix/Iris oneshot.


Iris returned, smiling happily with a pink blush spread across her cheeks. Dahlia lay across the couch, running her fingers through her hair, gazing nonchalantly over at her twin sister. "About time you returned," she said as Iris shut the door. It was nighttime, past eleven o'clock. The lit fireplace illuminated the entire room, and Iris pulled off her coat and hung it on the coat rack nearby. "You were supposed to be back three hours ago." Iris smiled sheepishly at Dahlia.

"I'm sorry, sis," she apologized. "I guess… I guess I just lost track of time." Dahlia scoffed.

"Never mind that," she said firmly. "Did you get the necklace?" Iris sighed dreamily and sat down next to Dahlia.

"No," she replied airily. "Not today." Dahlia frowned.

"This is taking far too long," she said. "You need to be more forceful." Iris smiled at her sister gently.

"Maybe next time we'll be lucky," she said hopefully. Dahlia stared blankly at Iris.

"You love him," she asserted. Iris gasped as her eyes widened.

"Wh-What?" she whispered. "N-No… Sis, I—"

"You love him," Dahlia repeated. "You love him with all your heart." Dahlia stood up and made her way over to the coat rack. She pulled off Iris's coat and rummaged through each of its pockets. She pulled out one golden necklace with a heart-shaped pendant and a… "Why did you lie to me?" Dahlia asked in a deadly low whisper.

"I-I…" Iris stuttered.

"Why did you lie to me?" Dahlia repeated. "Why did you lie to me about the bottle necklace? Phoenix Wright gave it back to you. It's right here." She held up the pendant. "Why did you lie to me?"

"S-Sis, I…" Iris mumbled. Dahlia stalked over to Iris and stared at her straight in the eyes.

"You love him," she said again. "You love Phoenix Wright." Iris looked away and her cheeks took on a reddish hue. "I'm right… aren't I Iris?" Then in an unusual moment of bravery, Iris stared blankly at her sister.

"You don't know anything," she whispered before snatching the necklace and sitting down on the couch. She cradled the necklace in her hands, holding it close to her chest. Dahlia tapped her foot and crossed her arms.

"How you could fall in love with such a whiny, simpering _fool_…" Dahlia said slowly, "… I will never know." She sat down next to her sister and glowered at her. "How could you let this happen?"

"I…" Iris mumbled. "I…"

"Answer me, Iris," Dahlia said sharply. "How could you let yourself fall in love with him? How could you let your feelings develop to such an extent?"

"I…" Iris whispered. "I… I don't know…" Dahlia's eyes softened a bit, but her furious expression was soon replaced with a haughty one. "I… I never asked for this to happen… I never meant for it to happen. It just did." Dahlia took Iris's hand – the one holding the bottle necklace.

"Well obviously," she said simply, "or you wouldn't have kept this from me. When did he give this to you?" Iris remained silent, refusing to meet her sister's gaze. "Iris, answer me. When did Phoenix Wright give this to you?" Iris just shook her head, her eyes filled with tears. "All right then, let's put it this way. If he gave this to you… let's see… anytime before yesterday… I will take over all operations and you will not be allowed to see him again." Iris gasped and tears began to leak from her eyes.

"You…" she whispered. "You can't really mean that…" Dahlia smirked cruelly.

"I do," she said. "And if you refuse to answer me, then I will take over anyway."

"No!" Iris cried. "P-Please…" She sobbed as Dahlia carefully scrutinized the necklace. She tossed it carelessly to Iris and shut her eyes, turning her head away as she did so.

"It's fake," she said. "It's not my necklace." Iris clutched the necklace tightly in her hands and stared downwards. "Not to mention… there's something else in there."

"Th-There is?" Iris asked.

"Inside the bottle," Dahlia clarified. Iris opened the bottle and pulled out a small slip of paper, carefully folded into a tiny square so that it would fit inside the bottle. Iris unfolded the paper and smiled when she finally saw its contents: a picture of herself with Phoenix Wright, completely hand-drawn. In the bottom right corner of the paper was the messy signature of Phoenix Wright. For a few minutes, Iris stared down at the sketch, smiling sentimentally. "Hmph. Pathetic."

"Wh-What?" Iris mumbled.

"And he calls himself an art student." Iris, however, continued to smile down at the picture.

"I think it's nice…" she said quietly to herself. "A-And he really put a lot of effort into this drawing too."

"Hmph," Dahlia said contemptuously. Iris gazed down at the picture, then back up at her sister.

"Dahlia, I'm sorry…" she whispered. "I… I knew it was a fake… Feenie said he had this necklace specially made… as a symbol of our love." Dahlia smirked.

"Yes," she retorted. "_Our_ love. Mine and Phoenix Wright's. Or have you forgotten?" More tears ran down Iris's cheeks. "Phoenix Wright… doesn't even know you exist." Dahlia flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "As far as _he's_ concerned… I'm the girl of his dreams. I'm the only woman in his life."

"But…" Iris protested. "Y-You don't even know him! Feenie… Feenie, he—"

"_Feenie_?" Dahlia shot back. "Is that your new nickname for him?" Dahlia chuckled as Iris stared down at the necklace in her lap. "I should keep that in mind should I choose to meet him one day."

"Sis…" Iris whispered. "Please…"

"Let me guess," Dahlia drawled. "You want one more chance at getting back that necklace." Iris dried her tears with the back of her hand and nodded, frowning confidently.

"I-I do," she said shakily. Dahlia stared seriously at her sister.

"You will not fail this time," she asserted. Iris shook her head.

"I won't," she agreed.

"You _will_ get that necklace back, at all costs," Dahlia continued.

"I…" Iris mumbled. "I will." Dahlia cocked one eyebrow.

"And should you fail?" she asked. Iris's hands began shaking as she clutched the necklace more tightly.

"I… I'll try again," she whispered. "I… I'll keep trying until I get it back." Dahlia shook her head and tsked.

"Foolish little sister," she said. "That was the wrong answer. Your answer should have been, 'I will not fail'."

"Y-Yes," Iris stuttered. "Th-That's what I meant." Dahlia smirked.

"But that's not what you said," she drawled. She chuckled before pushing a strand of black hair behind Iris's ear. "Well then let me make this clear, little sister. You will not fail me. If you do not get the necklace the next time you meet your beloved _Feenie_, I will take over. Do I make myself clear?" Iris nodded reluctantly.

"Y-Yes, sister," she mumbled. Dahlia frowned as she ran her hand through her sister's hair.

"Wait a minute," she said sharply. "Your hair. You're wearing it loose. Why?" Iris blushed before running her fingers through her hair furiously.

"U-Um… I…" Dahlia stared blankly at Iris.

"Iris, where did you and _Feenie_ go tonight?" Iris licked her lips and looked away. "Iris, answer me."

"W-Well…" Iris mumbled. "W-We… First we went out to dinner… And then Feenie and I went to his dorm room. His roommate was out, so…" She trailed off and Dahlia glowered at her.

"You didn't," she said in a dangerously low voice. Tears filled Iris's eyes.

"I… I…"

"Iris, how could you?" Dahlia yelled. "You slept with Phoenix Wright! How _could_ you?"

"I'm sorry!" Iris immediately apologized. "I'm sorry!"

"You let him take your… You let him take _my_ virginity? Are you out of your mind?"

"Sis…" Iris whispered. "I… I…" Dahlia exhaled sharply, as if trying to calm herself down.

"You do realize what this means, right?" she asked. "This means that I can no longer allow you to traipse around with him unsupervised." She snatched the fake bottle necklace away from Iris and promptly flung it into the fire. Dahlia stood up from the couch and proceeded to climb the stairs to her room. "If you don't find your precious _Feenie_ in the best condition later on… you'll only have yourself to blame. Remember that, Iris." There was the slam of a door, and tears began to slide down Iris's face. She gazed down at the picture Phoenix had drawn of them together, folding it up gently and clutching it tightly.

"Sis…"

* * *

><p>"This is the defendant's room, Mr. Edgeworth sir," Gumshoe explained as he opened a door at Hazakura Temple. "I doubt we'll find any clues in here, though." Edgeworth shook his head.<p>

"We may still find something that will be of at least some use," he retorted. "I will investigate here. You finish up at the crime scene."

"Yes, sir," Gumshoe said before leaving, shutting the door behind Edgeworth. Edgeworth gazed around the room superficially, unable to find anything of value. His gaze lingered on the photo frame sitting on the nightstand by Sister Iris's bed. It wasn't a photo at all; on the contrary, it was a hand-drawn picture of the defendant and Phoenix Wright. Edgeworth picked up the picture frame and continued to star at the picture, taking in all that it had to offer – the nearly perfect draftsmanship that rendered the figures of Phoenix and Iris completely free of skew lines, the happy smiles on both their faces, the way Phoenix draped his arm around Iris. Further down was a message: "Thanks for everything. I'll always love you—" Edgeworth frowned as he stared at the message. _Iris_. The defendant's name was written in neat, flowing cursive, as opposed to Phoenix Wright's usual untidy scrawl. Edgeworth squinted and saw the traces of pencil, another name erased and placed with Iris's. Edgeworth placed the picture frame in his briefcase, making a mental note to give it back to Phoenix as soon as possible.

XX

**Ok, so this was a very drabble-ish oneshot. I like Nick/Maya **_**and**_** Nick/Iris, but, for some reason, I like Nick/Iris a lot more. I guess it was kind of reassuring, listening to her tell Feenie that it was really her he dated the whole six months, and that he wasn't just delusional when he told Mia that the girl convicted of murder couldn't have been the Dahlia **_**he**_** knew. **

**I have a sort of love-hate relationship with the Fey-Hawthorne twins. When it comes to Dahlia, I really hate her for everything that she did, both when she was alive **_**and**_** when she was dead, but I love her for the complexity of her character. You know you've got a good villain when others really hate them with a passion for their actions and their personality, not just because you're supposed to hate the villain. Same thing with Matt Engarde – you really, really hate him when you're completing case 2-4, but when you look back in hindsight, you love him because he was such a good villain. As for Iris, I really liked her character. The whole "good twin" thing put a different spin on the typical "evil twin" thing: Phoenix thought he fell in love with the **_**evil**_** twin, though it was the **_**good**_** twin that he really loved. But I hate how she's such a doormat to Dahlia. Some people think she's a Mary-Sue. She's not specifically for this reason. She was used by Dahlia, but Iris still felt the need to help her sister anyway because not only did she feel sorry for her, but she also couldn't stand up to her sister.**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


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